Bank Of Americahttp://www.adweek.com/taxonomy/term/3782/all
enHere Are Forbes' 50 Most Influential CMOs of 2014http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/here-are-forbes-50-most-influential-cmos-2014-161273
Kristina Monllos<img src="http://www.adweek.com/files/imagecache/node-detail/news_article/phill-schiller-hed-2014.jpg"> <p>
Male chief marketing officers on Forbes&#39; third annual Appinions&nbsp;CMO Influence Study,<em> </em><a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/jenniferrooney/2014/11/07/the-worlds-most-influential-cmos-2014/" target="_blank">which was released today,</a> are 22 percent more influential than their female peers. Although women make up 32 percent of the influencers on the list, they only have a 21 percent share of the influence.</p>
<p>
According to Forbes&#39; study this means that &quot;their opinions received either a lower quantity of reactions, were reacted to by less influential people, or their opinions and the reactions to them appeared in less impactful publications.&quot;&nbsp;</p>
<p>
From July to October <a href="http://www.adweek.com/topic/forbes" target="_blank">Forbes</a> analyzed data on the top 500 companies from the Forbes Global 2000 Largest Companies List and over 100 million articles. The CMOs were ranked by how they have established themselves by sharing opinions that and generate significant reactions.</p>
<p>
Check out who made the list below:&nbsp;</p>
<p>
1. Phil Schiller, Apple<br />
2. David Lauren, Ralph Lauren<br />
3. Tim Mahoney, General Motors<br />
4.&nbsp;<a href="http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/fast-chat-fords-jim-farley-talks-fusion-marketing-143814" target="_blank">Jim Farley</a>, Ford<br />
5. John Frascotti, Hasbro<br />
6. Kristin Lemkau, JPMorgan Chase<br />
7. Trevor Edwards, Nike<br />
8.&nbsp;<a href="http://www.adweek.com/news-gallery/advertising-branding/these-5-dynamic-duos-are-nailing-digital-marketing-159165#industrial-artiste-1" target="_blank">Beth Comstock</a>, General Electric<br />
9. Seth Farbman, Gap<br />
10. Alain Visser, Volvo<br />
11. Matt Jauchius, Nationwide Mutual<br />
12. Richelle Parham, eBay<br />
13.&nbsp;<a href="http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/martines-magic-103261" target="_blank">Martine Reardon</a>, Macy&#39;s<br />
14. Kevin Krone, Southwest<br />
15. Olivier Francois, Fiat Chrysler<br />
16. Stephanie Linnartz, Marriott<br />
17. Andrew Nocella, American Airlines<br />
18. Barb Rechterman, GoDaddy<br />
19. Blair Christie, Cisco<br />
20. Anne Finucane, Bank of America<br />
21. Russell Wager, Mazda<br />
22. Jim Berra, Carnival<br />
23. Jeremy Burton, EMC<br />
24. Alan Gershenhorn, UPS<br />
25. Tony Pace, Doctor&#39;s Associates (Subway)<br />
26. Keith Weed, Unilever<br />
27. Dorothy Dowling, Best Western<br />
28. Ola Kallenius, Mercedes-Benz<br />
29. Dana Anderson, Mondelez<br />
30. Ariel Kelman, Amazon<br />
31. Michael Zuna, Aflac<br />
32. Jeannine Haas, Avis Budget Group<br />
33. Karen Quintos, Dell<br />
34. Ken Chaplin, Trans Union<br />
35. Khaled Elkhouly, Etisalat<br />
36. Lorraine Twohill, Google<br />
37. Mark Hug, Prudential Financial<br />
38. Roel de Vries, Nissan<br />
39. Mike Wege, Hershey Company<br />
40. Brian Smith, Lexus<br />
41. David Christopher, AT&amp;T<br />
42. Loren Angelo, Audi<br />
43. Deanie Elsner, Kraft<br />
44. Roy Benin, Mars<br />
45. Ann Mukherjee, Frito-Lay<br />
46. Andrea Riley, Ally Financial<br />
47. Ann Glover, Voya Financial<br />
48. Jeffrey Hirsch, Time Warner Cable<br />
49. Andy England, MillerCoors<br />
50. Johan Buse, SingTel<br />
&nbsp;</p>
Advertising & BrandingAflacAlly FinancialAmazonAmerican AirlinesAppleKristina MonllosAudiAvisBank Of AmericaBest WesternCarnivalchief marketing officerCiscoCMODellEbayEMCEtisalatFiat Chrysler AutomobilesForbesFordFrito-layGapGeneral ElectricGoogleHasbroJP Morgan ChaseKraftLexusMacy'sMarriottMarsMazdaMercedes-benzMillerCoorsMondelezNationwideNikeNissanPhil SchillerPrudentialRalph LaurenSingtelSouthwestSubwayTime Warner CableTrans UnionUnileverUpsVolvoVoya FinancialFri, 07 Nov 2014 13:00:02 +0000161273 at http://www.adweek.comAntique Cars Can Sell Anything—Even Boring Retirement Fundshttp://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/antique-cars-can-sell-anything-even-boring-retirement-funds-159800
Robert Klara<p>
Investment services have always had a tough time when it comes to marketing. For as much as we all want to amass piles of money, the idea of investing it for retirement is, well, boring as hell&mdash;at least to many people.</p>
<p>
Banks know this, of course, and over the years they&rsquo;ve tried out various techniques to get consumers&rsquo; attention. Some work and some don&rsquo;t&mdash;but the one on display in the two ads here is an enduring classic: Nothing says prosperous retirement like a classic car in the garage.</p>
<div class="news-article-image" style="float: right;margin: 15px 0px 15px 15px;">
<img class="fancyzoom" data-fancybox-src="/files/imagecache/w1200/perspective-bank-01-2014.jpg" src="/files/imagecache/test-width/perspective-bank-01-2014.jpg" />
<p class="caption">
When this ad appeared in 1959, Chase Manhattan<br />
had&nbsp;recently become the largest bank in New York.<br />
David&nbsp;Rockefeller was at the helm, and a new<br />
skyscraper&nbsp;headquarters was rising downtown.<br />
Maybe that&rsquo;s why subtlety&nbsp;isn&rsquo;t this ad&rsquo;s strong suit.<br />
Despite the obvious connection&nbsp;between retirement<br />
wealth and car collecting, someone had to<br />
stick a literal nest egg in here, just in case the<br />
Duesenberg didn&rsquo;t&nbsp;make the point.<span class="meta-credit"> </span></p>
</div>
<p>
&ldquo;Investing is one of those unsexy topics,&rdquo; said Brian Honigman, a Brooklyn, N.Y.-based marketing consultant, speaker and writer. &ldquo;One way around it is using classic cars as a symbol of what you&rsquo;ll be able to achieve.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
So, let&rsquo;s be frank. The &ldquo;you&rdquo; in that calculus is pretty much presumed to be a straight white male&mdash;at least as far as this 1959 ad for Chase Manhattan Bank and its 2014 counterpart for Bank of America&rsquo;s U.S. Trust are concerned. Establishment biases aside, both of these ads reach straight for a desire that seems to beat in the hearts of many red-blooded American males: the lifelong dream of owning an antique car&mdash;and the success that owning one so immediately and wordlessly conveys.</p>
<p>
Quantifying that desire among men is a matter of anecdotal evidence. The Pinterest page &ldquo;<a href="http://www.pinterest.com/tdoeswool/it-s-a-guy-thing/" target="_blank">It&rsquo;s a Guy Thing</a>&rdquo; is stuffed with photos of 1960s Mustangs and Maseratis.<a href="http://nevadamagazine.com/home/archives/classic-cars-and-comedy/" target="_blank"> Jay Leno told Nevada magazine</a> that hanging out with his collection of 100 cars is a &ldquo;guy thing.&rdquo; And a recent member survey by the Antique Automobile Club of America revealed that 82 percent of the drivers tooling the back roads in their vintage Packards and Studebakers were men. Insofar as investing, too, has historically been rather a guy thing (a study by the University of California, Davis found that men trade stocks 50 percent more often than women), it&rsquo;s no surprise that banks were (and are) using vintage cars to turn the heads of men thinking about their retirement portfolios.</p>
<p class="caption">
<strong>&lsquo;The classic car is a symbol of whether you&rsquo;ve made it in your life, that long-term goal.&rsquo;</strong> | <span class="meta-credit"> Brian Honigman, marketing consultant, writer and speaker</span></p>
<p>
Be it the 1958 Austin-Healey in the U.S. Trust ad or the 1930 Duesenberg in the older one, the cars &ldquo;are status symbols in both instances,&rdquo; Honigman said. &ldquo;The classic car is a symbol of whether you&rsquo;ve made it in your life, that long-term goal.&rdquo; Honigman added that the manner of the sell is more of a club over the head in the 1959 ad&mdash;using a car meet as a public forum for the flashy display of wealth&mdash;versus the subtler approach of the 2014 ad. Either way, however, the manner of selling a yawn-inducing retirement trust is the same.</p>
<p>
&ldquo;Retirement should be its own reward&mdash;you don&rsquo;t have to work anymore,&rdquo; Honigman observed. &ldquo;But if there&rsquo;s a specific thing [to show] like a car, that&rsquo;s more interesting.&rdquo;</p>
<div class="news-article-image" style="float: right;margin: 15px 0px 15px 15px;">
<img class="fancyzoom" data-fancybox-src="/files/imagecache/w1200/perspective-bank-02-2014.jpg" src="/files/imagecache/test-width/perspective-bank-02-2014.jpg" /></div>
<p>
<img src="/files/1_8.jpg" />&nbsp;The presence of&nbsp;his kid is pivotal in softening the sell&nbsp;from the older ad&rsquo;s message of conspicuous consumption to one of family and security. The classic cars, said Honigman, represent the wealth this man is leaving to his son.</p>
<p>
<img src="/files/imagecache/fb_app_popular_now/2_3.jpg" />&nbsp;The real point of this ad isn&rsquo;t to show the classic cars in this man&rsquo;s garage but sell what those cars represent&mdash; which rests in this word. &ldquo;The bank is setting up a trajectory for you to live up to&mdash;an outstanding life and a legacy for your kids,&rdquo; Honigman said.</p>
<p>
<img src="/files/3_3.jpg" />&nbsp;While the ad doesn&rsquo;t&nbsp;tell you that this is a &lsquo;58 Austin-Healey (book value: $70,500 or so), it doesn&rsquo;t really need to. The car looks expensive, and that&rsquo;s enough to make the point.</p>
Advertising & BrandingAntique CarsbankBank Of AmericabankingBrian HonigmanRobert KlaraChase ManhattanJay LenoPerspectivePortraitWed, 03 Sep 2014 12:43:42 +0000159800 at http://www.adweek.comJPMorgan Chase Embraces Its New Digital Shophttp://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/jpmorgan-chase-embraces-its-new-digital-shop-158566
Kristina Monllos<img src="http://www.adweek.com/files/imagecache/node-detail/news_article/unknown-7_0.jpeg"> <p>
It&#39;s still early stages for Roar, the new shop that Publicis Groupe created to handle JPMorgan Chase&#39;s global digital business, but so far a bank marketing leader likes what he sees.</p>
<p>
&quot;It&#39;s a great solution, they really hit it out of the park,&quot; said Gordon Abel, executive director of the bank&#39;s digital marketing group.</p>
<p>
Roar creates digital ads for all of JPMorgan Chase&#39;s divisions, including retail bank, card services and investment banking. The bank spends an estimated <a href="http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/jpmorgan-chase-calls-digital-review-151719" target="_blank">$70-80 million annually</a> on digital media across all divisions.</p>
<p>
The new shop is based in New York (the headquarters of Chase as well) and has offices in Atlanta, Chicago, Boston, London and Hong Kong. Sean Reardon, Zenith Media&#39;s former president of strategy, runs the shop as president.</p>
<p>
The genesis of Roar was a pitch late last year for the global digital business, which previously had been split among several shops, including Publicis Groupe units Razorfish and Rosetta, Interpublic Group&#39;s Huge and WPP Group&#39;s AKQA. To win the review, Publicis Groupe drew executives from several shops, including Razorfish, Rosetta and Zenith Media. <a href="http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/publicis-groupe-team-wins-chases-digital-business-153113" target="_blank">Teams </a>from Omnicom Group, Interpublic Group and Dentsu also vied for the assignment.&nbsp;</p>
<p>
During the review, bank executives realized that, &quot;given the volume of business that we do ... there probably wasn&#39;t a single digital agency out there that could manage all of the work,&quot; Abel said. &quot;We felt that by consolidating and building a digital [lead] agency, we&#39;d be able to push for stronger levels of innovation, efficiency and consistency across the firm.&quot;</p>
<p>
Creating a bespoke unit also got around the problem of financial services conflicts. Finally, it&#39;s not unsual for the category: in 2012, <a href="http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/bofa-selects-wpp-agency-team-global-creative-lead-140027" target="_blank">Bank of America tapped a WPP Group team</a> to lead its creative work.</p>
<p>
As a result of the consolidation, Publicis Groupe agencies handle a large chunk of Chase&#39;s business, including digital marketing, media planning and buying (Zenith) and creative responsibilities on the <a href="http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/chase-shifts-sapphire-card-business-137463" target="_blank">Sapphire credit card</a> (Saatchi &amp; Saatchi). Dentsu&#39;s mcgarrybowen, however, remains the brand&#39;s lead creative agency in the U.S.</p>
<p>
Down the line, Roar will selectively pursue other clients, according to Reardon. In his new role, he reports to both Rishad Tobaccowala, chairman of Razorfish and DigitasLBi and chief strategy and innovation officer for VivaKi , and ZenithOptimedia CEO Tim Jones.</p>
<p>
&quot;We&#39;re open to understanding how they would want to grow Roar as an agency, but right now we have them focused on building the agency for JPMorgan Chase,&quot; Abel said. &nbsp;</p>
Advertising & BrandingbankBank Of AmericaGordon Abelholding company teamJPMorgan ChaseKristina MonllosPublicis GroupeRazorfishRoarRosettaSaatchi & SaatchiSean ReardonZenith MediaThu, 26 Jun 2014 17:31:41 +0000158566 at http://www.adweek.comBono's Urgent Call for Brand Partnerships Energizes Cannes to Combat AIDShttp://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/bonos-urgent-call-brand-partnerships-energizes-cannes-combat-aids-158505
David Griner<img src="http://www.adweek.com/files/imagecache/node-detail/news_article/bono-cannes-hed-2014_0.jpg"> <p>
CANNES, France&mdash;A packed crowd of the world&#39;s top marketers thought they were turning out today to see Bono. What they didn&#39;t realize was that he was actually there to see them.</p>
<p>
The U2 frontman spent much of his Cannes Lions presentation urging brands and agencies to help create an AIDS-free generation by supporting the ambitious&mdash;and largely stalled&mdash;goals of his global nonprofit, (Red).&nbsp;</p>
<p>
&quot;The idea that we might get close to an AIDS-free generation, and then not get there, and for what? Because the heat isn&#39;t on the issue,&quot; Bono told attendees in the closing hours of the annual festival.</p>
<p>
&quot;You&#39;re about heat. You&#39;re a sort of thermostat for the world.&quot;</p>
<p>
In an odd bit of on-stage irony, Bono gave broad praise to an audience of strangers and reserved his most pointed criticism for the old friend seated nearby: Apple design guru Jony Ive.</p>
<p>
Although Apple was one of (Red)&#39;s earliest supporters and largely helped launch the branded product program, Bono said the tech brand has always downplayed its involvement, beginning with Steve Jobs&#39; refusal to put the nonprofit&#39;s signature parentheses on any Apple products or in any Apple stores.</p>
<p>
&quot;One of the reasons it&#39;s such a credit to have Jony Ive on the stage,&quot; Bono told panel moderator and Vice CEO Shane Smith, &quot;is because Apple is so fucking annoyingly quiet about the fact they&#39;ve raised $75 million. Nobody knows!&quot;</p>
<p>
Bono went so far as to stand up, pull out an official (Red) iPad cover and remove the device, illustrating to the audience that the only actual nod to the nonprofit was inside the cover and therefore always obscured by the tablet.</p>
<p>
&quot;Where&#39;s the (Red) branding?&quot; he asked Ive. &quot;Nobody can see that. This is modesty run amok. This is the Apple way. They&#39;re like a religious cult.&quot;</p>
<p>
Taking the jabs in stride, Ive stopped short of apologizing for the corporation&#39;s understated approach, but he did say that Apple&#39;s longstanding alliance with the nonprofit is a strong one.</p>
<p>
&quot;We started in 2006 with one (Red) product, a Nano, and now we&#39;ve got well over half a dozen,&quot; Ive said. &quot;It&#39;s been really, really special for us.&quot;</p>
<p>
Now Bono is looking for new partners&mdash;ones not afraid to make some noise and get some attention with their (Red)-branded products and initiatives.</p>
<p>
&quot;The people in this room could really figure this shit out,&quot; Bono said.</p>
<p>
But he wasn&#39;t content to stop there. Bono and (Red) representatives passed around large red glasses as a sort of collection plate. They weren&#39;t collecting money, though. They were collecting business cards.</p>
<p>
&quot;If somebody has one product they make that they could just rebrand next year for (Red),&quot; Bono said, &quot;that would be really great outcome for us.&quot;</p>
<p>
Cannes attendees didn&#39;t even need to wait for a phone call. As the business cards were collected, Bono asked the crowd of top-tier creatives to begin shouting out ideas.</p>
<p>
&quot;Are there any ideas, by the way?&quot; he asked. &quot;Has anyone got one straight off?&quot; &nbsp;</p>
<p>
As you might expect, this audience didn&#39;t waste its chance to pitch Bono. Attendees suggested everything from pop-up stores and debit cards to power cords that contribute every time you charge a device. Another suggested marathoners worldwide should stop one meter before their finish lines &quot;to call attention for governments and not finish their marathons until we raise the money we need.&quot;&nbsp;</p>
<p>
One audience member (<strong>UPDATE: </strong>Michael Trautmann, co-founder of German agency thjnk, whom you can see in a tweet below) might have even secured the ultimate PR coup for his startup. He said he was planning to launch a new website top-level domain (think .com or .net) called .hiv, with registration fees going to AIDS charities. He offered Bono the first-ever website on the domain, Red.hiv.</p>
<p>
&quot;If you&#39;d like,&quot; he told Bono, &quot;Red.hiv would become the first domain ever, and you will get it for free for the next 100 years.&quot; The suggestion sparked energetic applause from the audience and left Bono visibly excited about the idea.</p>
<p>
The reason for Bono&#39;s urgency lies in (Red)&#39;s goal to fuel the research and distribute the medicines needed to protect HIV-positive parents from passing the virus along to their unborn children. Doing so could create an AIDS-free generation as early as 2015, but the effort has been stymied by sluggish fundraising.</p>
<p>
Bono praised Bank of America for its huge contribution in this year&#39;s Super Bowl, when the company helped raise $3 million for (Red) with <a href="http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/u2-will-debut-new-single-super-bowl-ad-aids-fundraiser-155190">its Super Bowl ad</a> promoting downloads of U2&#39;s new single. He also singled out Gap as <a href="http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising/bono-reaches-across-retailers-launch-red-85578">one of the first brands to support (Red) on a large scale</a>&nbsp;through a strong marketing campaign.</p>
<p>
Now Bono is hoping to see more brands step forward and help reinvigorate (Red) through high-profile campaigns and product partnerships.</p>
<p>
The end result isn&#39;t just money raised from branded product sales. When mainstream brands get involved, Bono said, even the most skeptical politicians begin to take notice and consider supporting the cause through public funding.</p>
<p>
&quot;Politicians would be saying, &#39;I&#39;m not feeling it in my district. Why should we care about this?&#39;,&quot; Bono recalled. &quot;When Red started turning up in shopping malls, they cared.&quot;</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">
<p>
<a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23canneslions&amp;src=hash">#canneslions</a>, Jonathan Ive helped me to Pitch <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23dotHIV&amp;src=hash">#dotHIV</a> to Bono <a href="http://t.co/WOpFUWVgLj">pic.twitter.com/WOpFUWVgLj</a></p>
&mdash; Michael Trautmann (@MTrautmann) <a href="https://twitter.com/MTrautmann/statuses/480355042831400960">June 21, 2014</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>Advertising & BrandingAidsAppleBank Of AmericaBonoCannesDavid GrinerJony IveSteve JobsSat, 21 Jun 2014 15:45:56 +0000158505 at http://www.adweek.comNationSwell Attempts to Do Good One Video at a Timehttp://www.adweek.com/videowatch/nationswell-attempts-do-good-one-video-time-157983
Michelle Castillo<img src="http://www.adweek.com/files/imagecache/node-detail/blogs/unknown_2.jpeg"> <p>
When Greg Behrman returned from his one-year military deployment in Afghanistan, he decided that he wanted to be a purveyor of social change. The former Goldman Sachs analyst decided to channel his energies into creating a video network and website that would turn clicktivism into actual progress.</p>
<p>
<a href="http://www.nationswell.com/" target="_blank">NationSwell</a> highlights people and groups that are making a positive impact in their communities through online documentaries and then links their stories to direct ways people can help the cause, whether through an online donation, sending a petition or spreading the message on social media. It also promotes offline activation via volunteer opportunities and organizational efforts.&nbsp;The site&#39;s tales have been published on partner networks like <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tag/nationswell/" target="_blank">Huffington Post</a> and <a href="http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20797536,00.html" target="_blank">People Magazine</a>.&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Today, the media startup launched its first video series, <a href="http://www.nationswell.com/big-bets-eight-leaders-take-big-national-challenges/" target="_blank">Big Bets</a>, which takes a look at eight entrepreneurs who run social nonprofits. The first episode profiles Gerald Chertavian and his organization <a href="http://www.yearup.org/" target="_blank">Year Up</a>, which is a group that enrolls inner city youth in a rigorous one-year training program. Skills they learn give them the opportunity to land internships or entry level positions with partner employers, which include <a href="http://www.adweek.com/news/technology/facebook-claims-baby-faced-fraudster-used-all-click-tricks-157954" target="_blank">Facebook</a>, <a href="http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/ad-day-bank-america-148502" target="_blank">Bank of America</a> and <a href="http://www.adweek.com/news/technology/twitter-omnicom-deal-combines-mobile-ad-forces-157961" target="_blank">Twitter</a>.&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Watch Big Bets: Gerald Chertavian below:</p>
<p>
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="316" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/IRA-p-NH9xA" width="562"></iframe></p>
TechnologyActivismBank Of AmericaclicktivismFacebookNationswellMichelle CastilloTwitterVideoWed, 28 May 2014 16:17:51 +0000157983 at http://www.adweek.comBBDO Wins Big Pitch for Wells Fargo http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/bbdo-wins-big-pitch-wells-fargo-155988
Andrew McMains<img src="http://www.adweek.com/files/imagecache/node-detail/news_article/wells-fargo.jpeg"> <p>
Wells Fargo has found a new lead creative agency.</p>
<p>
After more than 18 years with DDB, the bank has hired BBDO in San Francisco to lead its creative business, Wells Fargo confirmed. Account revenue is estimated at $10-12 million.</p>
<p>
&quot;BBDO is a great fit for where we want to take the brand next,&quot; said Michael Lacorazza, svp of integrated marketing at the bank. &quot;We aspire for Wells Fargo to be not just a strong brand in the banking category, but to be a brand that people love and respect around the world beyond our category. And it&#39;s not an easy challenge, especially considering the space that the banking brands play in these days (after the financial crisis).&quot;</p>
<p>
Given the bank&#39;s goal of distinguishing itself more broadly, BBDO&#39;s experience with brands like AT&amp;T and Starbucks was as relevant as its past work for former client Bank of America. In particular, Lacorazza was impressed with the shop&#39;s ability to distinguish AT&amp;T in a parity category and to understand Starbucks from a &quot;big, 40,000-foot strategic brand level all the way down to, well, how are we going to drive sales?&quot;</p>
<p>
Wells Fargo, which is based in San Francisco, spends about $130 million in media annually, according to Nielsen.</p>
<p>
The creative search <a href="http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/wells-fargo-launches-creative-review-153025 " target="_blank">began in October</a>. Wells Fargo marketing executives&mdash;including Lacorazza and chief marketing officer Jamie Moldafsky&mdash;subsequently met with a half dozen shops months before narrowing the field to four. The others finalists were TBWA\Chiat\Day in Playa del Rey, Calif., Mullen in San Francisco and JWT in New York.</p>
<p>
The contenders got two assignments, according to Lacorazza. One assignment revolved around how to evolve the bank&#39;s current &quot;Conversation&quot; campaign and the other sought ideas on where to take the brand if starting from scratch. Beyond strategic thoughts and creative ideas, bank executives wanted to see how the agencies worked, albeit in a compressed period of about 30 days, Lacorazza explained.</p>
<p>
Final presentations took place early last month at Wells Fargo.</p>
<p>
Media responsibilities were not in play and remain at OMD (traditional) and UM (digital). Other Wells Fargo shops include MRM (digital marketing) and multicultural players Muse, DAE and Acento. Select Resources International in Santa Monica, Calif., managed the search.</p>
Advertising & BrandingAt&tBank Of AmericaBbdocreative reviewDdbAndrew McMainsJwtMichael LacorazzaMullenSelect Resources InternationalStarbucksTBWA\Chiat\DayWells FargoWed, 12 Mar 2014 15:45:05 +0000155988 at http://www.adweek.comThis Social Marketing Firm Has Revolutionized How to Tweet Against the Competitionhttp://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/social-marketing-firm-has-revolutionized-how-tweet-against-competition-155359
Christopher Heine<img src="http://www.adweek.com/files/imagecache/node-detail/news_article/portrait-liveworld-01-2014.jpg"> <p>
<img alt="" src="/files/uploads/SPACER-652.gif" style="width: 10px; height: 1px; " /><br />
<u><strong>Specs</strong></u><br />
<strong>Who</strong> Peter Friedman, chairman and CEO; Jenna Woodul, evp and chief community officer<br />
<strong>What</strong> Social marketing agency<br />
<strong>Where </strong>San Jose, Calif.<br />
<br />
Though it&rsquo;s been around since 1996, <a href="http://www.liveworld.com/" target="_blank">LiveWorld</a> has adroitly adapted to an ecosystem completely transformed by Facebook and Twitter. Mammoths such as Walmart, Procter &amp; Gamble, Bank of America, Pfizer and Louis Vuitton now trust LiveWorld to manage their social media. The company operates 4,600 content properties for 300 clients and ramped up revenue by more than 18 percent in 2013. &ldquo;We bring a human touch scaled by technology,&rdquo; said Peter Friedman, CEO of LiveWorld. His firm tackles competitors head-on with a revolutionary, evolving practice known as &ldquo;Twitter conquesting,&rdquo; where retailers quickly tweet an offer to consumers when they complain about a rival. Indeed, LiveWorld gives new meaning to &ldquo;social Darwinism.&rdquo;</p>
Advertising & BrandingTechnologyInteractiveMarketingBank Of AmericaFacebookChristopher HeineMagazine ContentMobilePfizerPortraitProctor & GambleSocial Content MarketingSocial MediaTwitterWalmartCreativeThu, 06 Feb 2014 11:24:41 +0000155359 at http://www.adweek.comU2 Will Debut New Single in Super Bowl Ad as AIDS Fundraiserhttp://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/u2-will-debut-new-single-super-bowl-ad-aids-fundraiser-155190
David Griner<img src="http://www.adweek.com/files/imagecache/node-detail/news_article/u2-hed-2014.jpg"> <p>
Rumors have been fluttering around fan sites for weeks, but now it&#39;s official: U2 will star in a Super Bowl ad co-sponsored by Bank of America and Bono&#39;s high-profile nonprofit, (Red). The band plans to debut its new single, &quot;Invisible,&quot; as a fundraiser for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.</p>
<p>
For 24 hours after the Super Bowl commercial airs, U2&#39;s song will be available for free download on iTunes. During that time, Bank of America will <a href="https://red.bankofamerica.com/#fbid=9dqC1aNXPHo" target="_blank">donate $1 to the Global Fund for each download</a>, up to a total of $2 million.</p>
<p>
One focus of the fundraiser is to help achieve the goal of ending mother-to-child transmission of HIV, which advocates feel could be accomplished as early as next year with the proper funding.</p>
<p>
&quot;We will continue to prioritize ways to contribute at home, while also finding places and moments where we can have an impact globally,&quot; Bank of America said in a statement about its partnership with (Red) and U2.&nbsp;</p>
<p>
&quot;This is one of those moments. A moment where together we have the collective ability to make a difference in the critical global AIDS fight. ...&nbsp;&nbsp;Delivering an AIDS-free generation is within our grasp.&quot;</p>
<p>
In the clip below, Bono explains how this partnership came about and why he is hopeful that current fundraising efforts are making considerable headway toward ending the global AIDS epidemic.&nbsp;</p>
<p>
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Advertising & BrandingBank Of AmericaSuper BowlU2David Griner155190 at http://www.adweek.comThe New York Times Rolls Out Another Advertising Firsthttp://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/new-york-times-rolls-out-another-advertising-first-152472
Lucia Moses<img src="http://www.adweek.com/files/imagecache/node-detail/news_article/nyt-app-iphone-hed-2013_0.jpg"> <p>
The New York Times has notched a number of advertising firsts lately in its ongoing effort to make marketing messages more engaging, and today it&rsquo;s unwrapping another one.</p>
<p>
Bank of America is running a takeover unit at the top of the NYTimes.com homepage that when clicked, will activate a Webcast of the Times&rsquo; Schools for Tomorrow education conference. It&rsquo;s the first time an advertiser has hosted a live Webcast of a Times conference within an ad unit.&nbsp;</p>
<p>
The ad unit is expected to carry the entire all-day conference, which was scheduled to kick off at 7:45 a.m. Tuesday. BofA videos featuring Sal Khan, the founder of the online education site Khan Academy and a keynote speaker of the conference, will play until the start of the conference, of which BofA is a sponsor. (No annoying auto-play ad here; you have to click to activate the ad, and the player will stay confined to the banner ad. The ad is a homepage-only experience, too, so it won&#39;t follow the viewer if he or she leaves the page.)</p>
<p>
The Times has allowed advertisers to run hand-picked editorial content in ad units before; examples are <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/27/us/politics/supreme-court-gay-marriage.html?jnjxxlidealab&amp;_r=0" target="_blank">here</a> and <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/ads/test/ben/article1.html?nysexxldemo" target="_blank">here</a>. In those cases the articles were archived (lest it look like the edit side served up content to suit an advertiser&rsquo;s purpose). Through its <a href="http://www.adweek.com/news/press/new-york-times-reinvents-boring-banner-ad-149611">Idea Lab</a>, the Times has also drawn inspiration from editorial executions for new ad units. What sets apart the BofA example is that the content is live and streaming.</p>
<p>
Meredith Kopit Levien, evp of advertising at the Times and a <a href="http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/new-york-times-names-new-ad-chief-151168">recent hire from Forbes</a>&mdash;which has been aggressive in introducing new ad formats in its own right&mdash;said that the idea for the BofA unit grew out of a discussion about the bank&rsquo;s support of the conference.</p>
<p>
&ldquo;As with any of our content partnerships, we looked for a way to extend it beyond the people in the room,&rdquo; Levien said. &ldquo;The conference is about the intersection between technology and education, and there&rsquo;s no better way to promote that than through technology.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
The ad also represents the demand by marketers today to align with, create and use content to get the attention of ad-weary consumers in fresh ways, a trend that&rsquo;s given rise to new forms of content marketing and its cousin, native advertising. In this case, BofA isn&rsquo;t creating the content itself or trying to dress up an ad message as real editorial content; rather, its unit is a modern update on the &quot;brought-to-you-by&quot; sponsorship model where the conference is the content.<br />
<br />
&ldquo;The need for marketers to be associated with content and to use content is a huge thing driving the market right now,&rdquo; Levien said.</p>
<p>
The Times, along with design and ad agency Pickle Group, worked with BofA to develop the unit. The newspaper has been focusing on measuring online ads in ways other than clicks, and as such, it&#39;ll gauge the BofA ad&#39;s success based on views and total viewing minutes, given the expectation that viewers will hop on and off throughout the day.&nbsp;</p>
Advertising & BrandingThe PressBank Of AmericaMeredith Kopit Leviennative advertisingOnlineLucia MosesVideoNewspaperTue, 17 Sep 2013 04:16:02 +0000152472 at http://www.adweek.comTraction Puts User Experience at the Core http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/traction-puts-user-experience-core-149144
Noreen O'Leary<img src="http://www.adweek.com/files/imagecache/node-detail/news_article/portrait-traction-01-2013.jpg"> <p>
<img alt="" src="/files/uploads/SPACER-652.gif" style="width: 10px; height: 1px; " /><br />
<u><strong>Specs</strong></u><br />
<strong>Who</strong> (l. to r.) Paul Giese, technology director; Adam Kleinberg, CEO; Theo Fanning, executive creative director<br />
<strong>What</strong> Interactive and advertising agency<br />
<strong>Where </strong>San Francisco offices</p>
<p>
When Adobe wanted to reach college kids about its range of products, <a href="http://www.tractionco.com/" target="_blank">Traction</a> came up with a game called &ldquo;<a href="http://showcase.tractionco.com/work/adobe/realorfake/realorfake.html" target="_blank">Real or Fake</a>,&rdquo; where students determined the authenticity of an image posted on the client&rsquo;s Facebook page. Students who manipulated it got to see a tutorial and free product trials. Over half of the Facebook visitors to the page played the game. That work underscores Traction&rsquo;s belief that if user experience is at its core, all advertising is interactive. &ldquo;We work holistically about ideas, whether online or offline,&rdquo; said CEO Adam Kleinberg. &ldquo;We grew up at the intersection of psychology and technology.&rdquo;</p>
Advertising & BrandingInteractiveAdobeBank Of AmericaPortraitSan FranciscoNoreen O'LearyWalmartRetailCreativeAgencyThu, 09 May 2013 10:57:17 +0000149144 at http://www.adweek.comAd of the Day: Bank of Americahttp://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/ad-day-bank-america-148502
Sam Thielman<img src="http://www.adweek.com/files/imagecache/node-detail/news_article/bank_of_america_portraits.jpg"> <p>
This lovely &quot;Portraits&quot; spot for Instagram really does wonders with the fuzzy yellow filter that just screams late &#39;70s/early &#39;80s, and the casting and direction bring you into this family&#39;s world even as the costumes change with the &hellip; hmm?</p>
<p>
What&#39;s that? This is an ad for Bank of America?</p>
<p>
Huh.</p>
<p>
Financial services is a tough category, but this really excellent generational short film is kind of a triumph of copywriting over brand identity. &quot;We know we&#39;re not the center of your life,&quot; the narrator apologetically tells us at the end of the minute-long spot by Hill Holliday. And yeah, we know that, too.</p>
<p>
What we don&#39;t know is what the narrator means when he says, &quot;There was a connection that started it all and made the future the wonderful thing it turned out to be.&quot; Was there? Are we talking about the beautiful photo album of this lovely family that is clearly growing by leaps and bounds with each passing second? I think we must be.</p>
<p>
Mind you, it is a really lovely advertisement. The actors are all perfect, and director Ivan Zacharias has framed every shot so that it seems to be taking place just after the family makes the needed adjustment to deal with &quot;the second British Invasion,&quot; for example (love the cute punk girl doing her excessive makeup), or the long-haired son&#39;s &quot;brief brush with the law.&quot;</p>
<p>
&quot;We know we&#39;re not the center of your life, but we&#39;ll do our best to help you connect to what is,&quot; the voiceover says at the end, followed by the briefest flash of an on-screen tagline (&quot;Life&#39;s better when we&#39;re connected&quot;) and the client&#39;s logo.</p>
<p>
BofA does such an impressive job getting out of its own way in &quot;Portraits&quot; that it could almost be an ad for anything. But it&#39;s backed up by more spots&mdash;two released so far, with many more on the way&mdash;in different styles and with more direct product messaging.</p>
<p>
They&#39;ll be hoping you connect with them as well.</p>
<p>
<object height="367" width="652"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/efAqCmKZDDI?version=3&amp;hl=en_US" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /><embed allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" height="367" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/efAqCmKZDDI?version=3&amp;hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="652"></embed></object></p>
<p>
<object height="367" width="652"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/FbaM1Ql8ixk?version=3&amp;hl=en_US" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /><embed allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" height="367" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/FbaM1Ql8ixk?version=3&amp;hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="652"></embed></object></p>
<p>
<object height="367" width="652"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Vlx5aXNqwaE?version=3&amp;hl=en_US" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /><embed allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" height="367" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Vlx5aXNqwaE?version=3&amp;hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="652"></embed></object></p>
<p>
<strong>CREDITS</strong><br />
Client: Bank of America<br />
Agency: Hill Holliday, Boston<br />
Spot: &quot;Portraits&quot;</p>
<p>
Executive Vice President, Chief Creative Officer: Lance Jensen<br />
Executive Vice Presidents, Group Creative Directors: Spencer Deadrick, David Gardiner<br />
Senior Vice Presidents, Group Creative Directors: Kevin Daley, David Banta</p>
<p>
Art Director: Kevin Daley<br />
Copywriters: David Banta, Lance Jensen</p>
<p>
Executive Vice President, Director, Creative Production: Bryan Sweeney<br />
Senior Vice President, Executive Broadcast Producer: Scott Hainline<br />
Broadcast Production Assistant: David Shaw</p>
<p>
Executive Vice President, Managing Director: Leslee Kiley<br />
Executive Vice President, Account Director: Nancy Lehrer<br />
Vice President, Account Director: Andrew Still<br />
Management Supervisors: Kim Almazan, Jaime Zozula<br />
Account Supervisor: Kate Norris<br />
Account Executive: Megan Wiggin<br />
Assistant Account Executive: Raquel Ross<br />
Project Manager: Jillian Malenfant</p>
<p>
Senior Vice President, Group Planning Director: Linda Lewi<br />
Director, Broadcast Business Affairs: Lenora Cushing<br />
Director, Business Affairs: Sharon McDonald</p>
<p>
Production Company: Smuggler<br />
Director: Ivan Zacharias<br />
Producer: Nick Landon<br />
Line Producer: Pete Slowey</p>
<p>
Music: Original Snow Palms</p>
<p>
&mdash;Spot: &quot;Dumont Green&quot;</p>
<p>
Executive Vice President, Chief Creative Officer: Lance Jensen<br />
Executive Vice President, Group Creative Director: Spencer Deadrick<br />
Senior Vice Presidents, Group Creative Directors: Neal Hughlett, Sue DeSilva</p>
<p>
Copywriter: Neal Hughlett<br />
Art Director: Sue DeSilva</p>
<p>
Vice President, Executive Broadcast Producer: Karen Kenney<br />
Associate Broadcast Producer: Patrick Driscoll</p>
<p>
Executive Vice President, Managing Director: Leslee Kiley<br />
Executive Vice President, Account Director: Nancy Lehrer<br />
Senior Vice President, Account Director: Jeff Nowak<br />
Vice President, Account Director: Andrew Still<br />
Management Supervisors: Kim Almazan, Vanessa Tebesceff<br />
Account Executive: Angela Castellucci<br />
Assistant Account Executive: Lisa Gapinske<br />
Senior Project Manager, Amanda Sullivan</p>
<p>
Senior Vice President, Group Planning Director: Linda Lewi<br />
Vice President, Planning Director: Ross Cidlowski<br />
Planner: Allie Pirolli</p>
<p>
Director, Broadcast Business Affairs: Lenora Cushing<br />
Director, Business Affairs: Sharon McDonald</p>
<p>
Production Company: Red Thread</p>
<p>
Editorial Company: Lost Planet</p>
<p>
Color Correct: Nice Shoes<br />
Colorist: Lez Rudge</p>
<p>
Conform: Brickyard</p>
<p>
Music: Pick Up the Pieces by Average White Band</p>
<p>
&mdash;Spot: &quot;San Diego Biofuel&quot;</p>
<p>
Executive Vice President, Chief Creative Officer: Lance Jensen<br />
Executive Vice President, Group Creative Director: Spencer Deadrick<br />
Senior Vice Presidents, Group Creative Directors: Neal Hughlett, Sue DeSilva</p>
<p>
Copywriter: Neal Hughlett<br />
Art Director: Sue DeSilva</p>
<p>
Vice President, Executive Broadcast Producer: Karen Kenney<br />
Associate Broadcast Producer: Patrick Driscoll</p>
<p>
Executive Vice President, Managing Director: Leslee Kiley<br />
Executive Vice President, Account Director: Nancy Lehrer<br />
Senior Vice President, Account Director: Jeff Nowak<br />
Vice President, Account Director: Andrew Still<br />
Management Supervisors: Kim Almazan, Vanessa Tebesceff<br />
Account Supervisor: Kate Norris<br />
Account Executive: Angela Castellucci<br />
Assistant Account Executive: Lisa Gapinske<br />
Senior Project Manager, Amanda Sullivan</p>
<p>
Production Company: Red Thread</p>
<p>
Editorial Company: Hill Holliday Bubble<br />
Editor: Dan Cabral</p>
<p>
Color Correct: Nice Shoes<br />
Colorist: Lez Rudge</p>
<p>
Conform: Brickyard</p>
<p>
Music: Feeling Alright by Joe Cocker</p>
<p>
Senior Vice President, Group Planning Director: Linda Lewi<br />
Vice President, Planning Director: Ross Cidlowski<br />
Planner: Allie Pirolli</p>
<p>
Director, Broadcast Business Affairs: Lenora Cushing<br />
Director, Business Affairs: Sharon McDonald</p>
Advertising & BrandingAd of The DayBank Of AmericaFinanceHill HollidayCreativeSam ThielmanWed, 10 Apr 2013 17:47:59 +0000148502 at http://www.adweek.comIt's Adapt-or-Die Time for Daily Deals Firmshttp://www.adweek.com/news/technology/its-adapt-or-die-time-daily-deals-firms-147806
Christopher Heine<img src="http://www.adweek.com/files/imagecache/node-detail/news_article/fea-groupon-01-2013.jpg"> <p>
In 2009, daily deals firms sprouted up on the digital landscape like eager-to-bloom crocus flowers often seen at this time of year. But more recently a late winter freeze has buzz sawed through one flowery bulb after another, as hundreds of daily deals upstarts have fallen by the wayside because they couldn&rsquo;t develop in the harshly competitive climate.</p>
<p>
Could a big one&mdash;<a href="/node/146386">LivingSocial</a>&mdash;actually be the next to wither away? Sources familiar with the company say they wouldn&rsquo;t be surprised if the industry&rsquo;s No. 2 player, trailing only Groupon, was sold to a larger company or liquidated piece by piece by spring 2014. They say LivingSocial has lacked the speed to adjust to a space that&rsquo;s increasingly becoming more complex.</p>
<p>
Even worse for this nascent field, the marketplace has gotten a lot more crowded. Dozens of outfits from Yelp to marketing giants such as American Express and Bank of America&mdash;to even companies that enable retailers to set up their own offers&mdash;now provide innovative ways to link customers with local merchants.</p>
<p>
Forrester Research analyst Sucharita Mulpuru-Kodali says neither LivingSocial nor Groupon are too big to fail&mdash;even if the latter still has cash reserves in the billions from its 2011 initial public offering. &ldquo;The daily deals space is saturated,&rdquo; she says, &ldquo;and it never provided tremendous value to merchants. And that was the fundamental flaw in the business model. They&rsquo;ve survived over the last few years even when these truths were obvious because they&rsquo;ve reduced the margins they ask of merchants, they extend the length of offers and they make more offers available at any time.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
Groupon, in recent months, has been giving a bigger slice of voucher sales to deals-weary local businesses&mdash;a gesture meant to inspire loyalty to its platform. The lower merchant commissions were largely to blame for Groupon&rsquo;s poor 2012 results and resulted in the ouster of company founder Andrew Mason as CEO (<a href="/node/147609">whose memorable farewell memo to staffers is now the stuff of legend</a>). The Chicago-based daily deals firm declined all interview requests for this story.</p>
<p>
Indeed, daily deals have been on a cold streak. LivingSocial dismissed 400 employees last November after suffering a net loss of $560 million during Q3 2012. In its Q3 &rsquo;12 earnings, Amazon blamed its first net loss in four years on its $169 million write-down for its two-year-old stake in LivingSocial. More recently, LivingSocial endured scrutiny about whether its cash infusion of $110 million was emergency funding or simply another money round for the four-year-old operation.</p>
<p>
&ldquo;You have to ignore the naysayers and focus on the people who matter&mdash;our millions of satisfied customers and merchants,&rdquo; contends LivingSocial rep Andrew Weinstein, responding to the numerous issues his firm is allegedly facing. &ldquo;After our most recent funding round, we have a significant financial reserve to take advantage of any opportunities, and we are executing against our plans for growth and profitability in 2013.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
Weinstein and his team argue that 80 percent of merchants do repeat LivingSocial deals when contacted by a sales rep&mdash;though its self-reporting flies in the face of third-party data available (more on that later). The team is also optimistic about the growth of its newer products, chiefly the Escapes and Fun &amp; Events offers that are designed to build out audiences beyond seekers of discount massages and half-price leg waxes.</p>
<p>
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s about experiences&mdash;not just about the discount,&rdquo; says Mitch Spolan, svp of national sales for LivingSocial. &ldquo;You want to climb Kilimanjaro, well, we have an &lsquo;Escape&rsquo; for that.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
For Unaiz Kabani, director of product development for Yipit, a deals aggregator that also shares data from the activity it sees, maintaining growth will be the challenge. Kabani points out that the number of merchant deals continues to climb but not at the rates to which Groupon and LivingSocial have grown accustomed. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s somewhat to be expected,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;This space has matured really quickly.&rdquo;</p>
<!--pagebreak-->
<p>
Whether or not Groupon and LivingSocial are suffering due to a lack of enthusiasm at the small-business level paints only a part of the picture (even though it remains a key question). The companies still need to satisfy investors by maintaining growth rates by expanding services. For LivingSocial&rsquo;s Escapes and Fun &amp; Events, Groupon has similar efforts but seems particularly focused on its Amazon-like Groupon Goods initiative.</p>
<p>
&ldquo;Daily deals are not blossoming,&rdquo; says Mark Fratrik, vp and chief economist for BIA/Kelsey. &ldquo;And now, Groupon and LivingSocial and other players are branching into e-commerce areas.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
BIA/Kelsey has in the past estimated that the digital deals space will grow to $5.5 billion by 2016. But due to Groupon and LivingSocial&rsquo;s recent troubles, the Chantilly, Va.-based researcher plans to scale back expectations for the niche when it comes out with new numbers this summer, Fratrik says. &ldquo;Their offers sometimes go to the spam folders&mdash;and not a lot of people check their spam folders for daily deals,&rdquo; he adds. &ldquo;I think these companies have seen that and evolved. Whether they have evolved quickly enough, I don&rsquo;t know.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
LivingSocial and Groupon have evolved enough to generate a few positive case studies. For example, e-commerce company Quidsi, an Amazon property, has used both players to acquire thousands of new customers and build email lists for Diapers.com and Soap.com. For small offline companies, the platforms tend to perform better for events (think minor league baseball games and walking tours of haunted neighborhoods) and travel marketers than they do for restaurants.</p>
<p>
One Wall Street analyst even foresees a bright future for Groupon. Arvind Bhatia, an analyst for Sterne Agee covering Groupon, is bullish on the company on the strength of its global footprint, mobile advances (Groupon says more than 30 percent of its business is conducted via smartphones) and huge lead over LivingSocial.</p>
<p>
&ldquo;The international business is starting to see a lot of uptick,&rdquo; Bhatia says. &ldquo;While LivingSocial seems to be having a hard time, we are characterizing Groupon as a turnaround story. The caveat of the turnaround story is they always take longer, and there are always bumps along the road.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
It&rsquo;s those bumps in the road that led deals entities like Facebook Deals, BuyWithMe and Scoop St.&mdash;using Groupon and LivingSocial&rsquo;s sales team-driven model&mdash;into a ditch. (Since shuttering Deals, Facebook has released a self-service Offers platform to take its place.) &ldquo;There are so many firms going out to small businesses,&rdquo; Fratrik says, &ldquo;and saying, &lsquo;I am going to help you create more sales.&rsquo;&rdquo;</p>
<p>
Michelle Mannix, co-owner of Ted &amp; Honey, a Brooklyn restaurant, knows the scenario all too well. She&rsquo;s tested deals with LivingSocial, Groupon, Google Offers, AmazonLocal, Scoutmob and Bloomspot to attract business for her dinner service. Though the sales calls from those firms keep coming, Mannix says she&rsquo;s probably done with them. The deals &ldquo;are not very good financially after you get your cut,&rdquo; she says. &ldquo;Our margins are low as it is.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
And such a been-there-done-that merchant sentiment toward daily deals is partly why LivingSocial and Groupon are motivated to create offers in new areas. A recent study by Manta found that out of 1,080 small businesses surveyed, 18 percent planned to run a daily deals in 2013. Just 3 percent in the study says such campaigns produced repeat patrons.</p>
<p>
In addition to pleasing investors and adjusting to merchant burnout, LivingSocial and Groupon have plenty of other reasons to evolve. AmEx, Bank of America, Facebook, Apple, Yelp, Foursquare and LevelUp are innovating and attacking their business like hungry piranha. Sure, Groupon, with its 150 million subscribers, and LivingSocial, with 72 million, lead those competitors in a gigantic fashion when it comes to email and mobile marketing.</p>
<p>
But what if the way consumers think of special offers is transformed in the age of the digital wallet? Those piranha may soon become great white sharks. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a broader ecosystem with different types of competition than it used to be,&rdquo; Fratrik from BIA/Kelsey says. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s a challenge to Groupon and LivingSocial.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
Of all the intriguing iterations in the space during the last year, Bank of America&rsquo;s BankAmeriDeals is worth a closer look because it turned a ho-hum consumer activity into a monetization piece. Through technology by Cardlytics, BofA&rsquo;s system pitches deals from local and national brands to account holders when they review their personal finances online. BofA customers can opt in to get offers in their purchase itemizations as they review their online account statements.</p>
<!--pagebreak-->
<p>
For instance, if customers buy dinner at a steak house with their debit or credit card, they might see a special from Applebee&rsquo;s on the Web page. For offline deals, customers can save the offer to their BofA smartphone app, then use it at a store. If the advertiser is an e-commerce brand, BofA customers can immediately make a purchase with a click. The offers are targeted based on purchase history and location.</p>
<p>
More than 4,000 merchants have signed up for the six-month-old program, and they are primarily charged on a performance basis. BankAmeriDeals&rsquo; genesis traces back to customer research by the brand over the last few years, per Dave Godsman, Bank of America&rsquo;s online and mobile solutions lead.</p>
<p>
&ldquo;They didn&rsquo;t want to go through hoops and over hurdles to get relevant deals,&rdquo; Godsman says. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve got great participation from big brands like FedEx, AutoZone, Redbox and the Atlanta Braves, but it&rsquo;s also the dry cleaners and local restaurants getting on board.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
BankAmeriDeals&rsquo; move highlights the fact that, in the frothy melee for local digital commerce dollars, the term &ldquo;daily deals&rdquo; has been rendered largely meaningless. Offers levied by the various players rarely impose 24-hour limits on consumers, now affording them a week or more to purchase. Some hyperlocal offers are exclusively available via mobile apps thanks to GPS technology. Others award discounts for syncing credit cards to social platforms and then repeating patronage. Groupon and LivingSocial simply can&rsquo;t keep up with all this competition.</p>
<p>
And retailers are happy to try the diverse set of options. &rsquo;Wichcraft, a 15-location eatery in New York, is buoyed by the results it&rsquo;s seen from American Express&rsquo; Sync program. It ran two Foursquare campaigns&mdash;one in conjunction with AmEx Sync and another solo on Foursquare&rsquo;s Specials platform&mdash;and saw 97,000 impressions and a 22 percent redemption rate. The Sync initiative&mdash;offering $5 off for an order exceeding $25&mdash;produced the most sales, says Ellen Kim, marketing director for &rsquo;Wichcraft. &ldquo;I am in discussions with AmEx about doing more promotions,&rdquo; Kim explains. &ldquo;We want to innovate with companies.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
Other brands have a similar mind-set toward using digital deals to drive foot traffic. Foursquare in late February announced it signed up Visa and MasterCard to extend its card-sync aims, and Burger King is piloting the new Visa/MasterCard program with rebate-oriented deals. Consumers who sign up see the cash back from the retailers on their credit card statements.</p>
<p>
New York-based Foursquare says it has about 100,000 specials running daily from mostly small businesses but hopes to land more big fish like BK with the card-sync effort. &ldquo;From a merchant perspective, it&rsquo;s entirely frictionless,&rdquo; says Steven Rosenblatt, Foursquare&rsquo;s chief revenue officer. &ldquo;One of the biggest obstacles of running any kind of offer, coupon or special usually involves training the retail staff at point-of-sale. We&rsquo;ve removed that barrier.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
Card-sync deals have heated up in the last couple of years. Apple&rsquo;s Passbook, a digital wallet feature on the iPhone, recently helped Build-A-Bear Workshop garner a 5 percent clickthrough rate during a one-week stint. In a campaign led by mobile tech firm Vibes, the brand geo-targeted a campaign offering $5 back on orders exceeding $25, pitching the deal when Passbook users were physically close to a Build-A-Bear location.</p>
<p>
Teresa Kroll, head of marketing for the St. Louis-based brand, says the Passbook initiative increased consumer engagement, and &ldquo;we experienced additional foot traffic from those who received the offer.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
Seeing a lack of traction from its geo-social app, Scvngr created a similar platform to Passbook&mdash;a mobile payment/loyalty system called LevelUp that&rsquo;s been adopted by 5,000 merchants. Small businesses set up rewards to entice customers to pay with the app&mdash;awarding a $5 credit for buying anything, for example, or encouraging loyalty by offering a $10 credit per $100 spent. &ldquo;They can track customers to see real ROI [stats],&rdquo; Scvngr CEO Seth Priebatsch says.</p>
<p>
Further showcasing how the deals space is evolving, Priebatsch&rsquo;s Boston-based company is marketing a white-label solution so brands can completely own the experience around mobile deals and payments. Sweetgreen, a farm-to-table food chain in Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia, began using the LevelUp solution three months ago, offering regulars $10 off for every $100 spent via the brand&rsquo;s app.</p>
<p>
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m very pleased with the progress so far,&rdquo; says Nate Ru, co-founder of Sweetgreen. &ldquo;Our app was in the Apple top 10 for restaurants for two weeks when we first released it.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
Sweetgreen soured on the financials of working with LivingSocial after trying the deals platform in its early days to get new locations off the ground. &ldquo;Looking back, I don&rsquo;t think I&rsquo;d do LivingSocial again,&rdquo; Ru says.</p>
<!--pagebreak-->
<p>
Lindsey Holmes, CEO of local marketing firm LCH Business SM &amp; Tech, says it&rsquo;s important that small businesses consider the risks&mdash;like an unserviceable flood of customers that might produce a rash of bad online reviews or a loss-leader that doesn&rsquo;t pan out ROI-wise&mdash;before running a Groupon or LivingSocial. &ldquo;If they cannot take the risk, I advise them to look at other digital channels,&rdquo; says Holmes.</p>
<p>
Facebook Offers gives merchants another option if they think Groupon and LivingSocial are too risky. They can post an offer for free but need to fork over cash if they want it pushed into users&rsquo; news feeds. The Menlo Park, Calif.-based social giant says 42 million users&mdash;about 4 percent of its 1 billion base&mdash;claimed offers in the last year. (Redemption rates are not available.) 1-800-Flowers.com, Brooks Brothers, Victoria&rsquo;s Secret and Rosetta Stone are among the brands that have been using the platform since it launched a year ago.</p>
<p>
&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve tried a lot of things,&rdquo; says Nicolas Franchet, Facebook&rsquo;s head of e-commerce, global vertical marketing. &ldquo;Sometimes they&rsquo;ve worked, sometimes they haven&rsquo;t. We feel that 42 million people engaging gives us a strong enough signal to see there&rsquo;s a there there. We definitely want to capitalize on it.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
One quiet player on this front that may have a big opening if no one else fills it is Yelp. Per comScore, the local business reviews directory had roughly 39 million U.S. unique visitors during January, well ahead of the sites for Groupon (13 million) and LivingSocial (7 million). The company has a local business marketing team that&rsquo;s expanding in its New York and London offices.</p>
<p>
Launched in 2010, Yelp Deals ran 45,000 offers on its platform during Q4 2012&mdash;a substantial increase over the 17,000 the firm garnered during the same period in 2011. Yelp Deals is a self-service platform, so the San Francisco-based company doesn&rsquo;t need boots-on-the-ground salespeople like Groupon and LivingSocial. &ldquo;Business owners are in control of the discount they want to provide,&rdquo; says Vince Sollitto, Yelp communications lead. &ldquo;It can be 50 percent off or a $20-for-$30 deal, etc.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
So it&rsquo;s going to be intriguing to see which of these platforms accelerates or sputters this year, and whether LivingSocial or Groupon authors a comeback story or suffers an ugly fate in a crowded environment. An undertold tale about the two biggest players is that they are building fresh, massive email lists that could someday be extremely attractive to e-commerce companies as an asset acquisition.</p>
<p>
For instance, if LivingSocial does fail and needs to be liquidated, Simms Jenkins, CEO of email marketing firm BrightWave, estimates its 72-million-strong email list could be worth as much as $921 million. &ldquo;[It&rsquo;s] a very valuable asset because millions of consumers have granted permission to receive special email offers,&rdquo; he adds. &ldquo;Presumably, a large percentage has purchased from the list, and, in general, it is a fairly active and clean list.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
Keep an eye on your inbox to see if that deal goes down.&nbsp;</p>
TechnologyMarketingAmazonLocalAmerican ExpressBank Of AmericaDataChristopher HeineGoogle OffersGrouponLiving SocialMagazine ContentMobileScoutmobSocialTed & HoneyYelpPackaged GoodsRetailMon, 11 Mar 2013 03:25:25 +0000147806 at http://www.adweek.comSources: Criteo Hires Bank for Imminent IPOhttp://www.adweek.com/news/technology/sources-criteo-hires-bank-imminent-ipo-147312
Tim Peterson<p>
The ad tech <a href="http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/appnexuss-75-million-funding-round-quiets-acquisition-ipo-talk-146759" target="_blank">money merry-go-round</a> continues to <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2013/02/07/dataxu-raises-27m-for-real-time-data-driven-ad-buying/" target="_blank">whirl</a>. Last week search advertising giant <a href="http://www.adweek.com/news/technology/marin-software-positions-first-ad-tech-ipo-2013-147277" target="_blank">Marin Software filed </a>to go public (a planned $75 million IPO), marking the first ad tech firm slated for an IPO in what is expected to be a frenzied market. A second company may soon follow&mdash;and it&rsquo;s likely to be Criteo.</p>
<p>
The Paris-based online ad retargeter, said to be valued around $1 billion, has picked a bank after holding a bake-off last month, per three sources with knowledge of the matter. Two said the bank was retained to manage the company&rsquo;s IPO, and one source explicitly ruled out a private funding round, pointing to the nearly <a href="http://www.adweek.com/news/technology/criteo-nabs-nearly-40-million-funding-round-143984" target="_blank">$40 million</a> the company culled together last September. Sources declined to specify which bank was hired so as not to disrupt business relationships.</p>
<p>
Earlier today, the French publication JDN <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/report-criteo-will-ipo-this-year-and-try-to-raise-between-270-and-400-million-2013-2" target="_blank">reported</a> that Criteo is likely to have an IPO this year, per Business Insider.</p>
<p>
&ldquo;We&rsquo;re focusing on building the business,&rdquo; said Criteo president Greg Coleman. &ldquo;There are a number of different things we can do including an IPO.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
But the options for ad tech firms carrying nine-digit-plus valuations like Criteo may be slimming. &ldquo;The higher the valuation, the fewer the options,&rdquo; said Jay MacDonald, CEO and managing partner of Digital Capital Advisors. &ldquo;I think 2013 will be one of the most crowded M&amp;A markets since 2007 but without the same number of buyers. If companies are going out, they have to show they are strongly profitable and have a unique and long-term value proposition. An IPO is different. You need a track record of profitability.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
In that case, Marin may force Criteo to file for an IPO sooner in order to preempt any impact from the search ad firm&rsquo;s debut. Last week&rsquo;s regulatory filing showed Marin has yet to turn an annual net profit since its inception in 2006. If public tech investors are still stinging from Groupon&rsquo;s struggles&mdash;the daily deals service had also never booked a profitable period prior to its IPO&mdash;Marin&rsquo;s IPO may receive a chilly reception, icing Wall Street for Criteo as Groupon, Zynga and Facebook had for consumer-facing tech firms.</p>
<p>
&ldquo;A number of companies in 2012 thought they would get out via an IPO,&rdquo; MacDonald said. &ldquo;The money that is in a lot of these companies has been in the businesses longer than [investors] thought. Doubling and quadrupling down on their investments is not something these guys contemplated.&rdquo; That could pressure some companies to jump the public market gun.</p>
<p>
Criteo doesn&rsquo;t seem to fall into that trap. It&rsquo;s been <a href="http://www.adweek.com/news/technology/ad-tech-firm-thats-actually-making-money-142064" target="_blank">profitable since 2008</a>, Coleman told Adweek last summer. At the time he also projected the 800-employee firm would rake in roughly $300 million in revenue last year, tripling its 2011 figure with Criteo&rsquo;s relatively nascent U.S. business accounting for 20 percent of overall revenue. He declined to update those figures in an interview earlier this month, but said 96 percent of customers have renewed their business.</p>
<p>
While Criteo and Marin appear to be peaking&mdash;not to mention freshly funded AppNexus and DataXu&mdash;not all ad tech firms are so easily taking their business to the bank. Supply-side platform Rubicon Project had hired Bank of America Merrill Lynch late last year to raise a funding round at a $300 million valuation but was unable to find any takers, according to two sources close to the situation. &quot;There wasn&#39;t a fundraising process,&quot; said Rubicon Project CEO Frank Addante, who declined to comment on any relationship with Bank of America Merrill Lynch because of regulatory requirements governing banker relationships.</p>
<p>
&quot;Rubicon Project is profitable and has been for quite some time, Addante added. &quot;We have a strong and growing balance sheet. Our growth strategy has included M&amp;A and we are constantly looking at potential target companies to acquire. We have acquired four technology companies in the past. As such, we maintain an ongoing dialogue with investors to potentially finance specific acquisitions.&quot; &nbsp;</p>
<p>
Several media buyers and other ad tech execs balked at Rubicon&rsquo;s perceived inflated valuation and speculated that prospective investors did as well. &ldquo;Rubicon has grown significantly over the years but probably can&rsquo;t grow at the same clip as they did in the past,&rdquo; MacDonald said.&nbsp;</p>
TechnologyAppNexusBank Of AmericaCriteoDataXuDigital Capital AdvisorsTim PetersonGrouponMarin SoftwareThe Rubicon ProjectZyngaFri, 15 Feb 2013 17:02:29 +0000147312 at http://www.adweek.comMerrill Edge Ages You Digitally to Scare You Into Retirement Planninghttp://www.adweek.com/adfreak/merrill-edge-ages-you-digitally-scare-you-retirement-planning-145851
David Gianatasio<img src="http://www.adweek.com/files/imagecache/node-detail/blogs/merrill_edge.jpg"> <p>
I knew dealing with brokers could take years off your life, but this is ridiculous. Merrill Edge, the online brokerage platform by Bank of America, puts a new wrinkle in financial planning with <a href="http://faceretirement.merrilledge.com/" target="_blank">Face Retirement,</a> an online tool that takes your picture via webcam and ages the resulting image. I tried it and was truly horrified when I saw a pasty, desiccated, walrus-jowled face staring back at me. And that&#39;s how I look now! I need to get out in the sun more. In 61 years time, when I&#39;m 107, I&#39;ll resemble a cross between Boris Karloff and moldy paint, according to the app. On the plus side, I&#39;ll still have my hair. Psyched! We&#39;re also treated to projections for future goods and services. For example, in 2073, a gallon of gas will apparently cost $29.52. Glad to see the price will be coming down! Seeing one&#39;s decrepit future self supposedly inspires folks to save in the present. Not me. My retirement plan is a sock filled with quarters which I use to mug rich people. Thanks anyway, Merrill Edge! Via <a href="http://www.wired.com/business/2012/12/retirement-magic-mirror/" target="_blank">Wired.</a></p>
Advertising & BrandingInteractiveBank Of AmericaFinanceMerrill EdgeRetirementTue, 11 Dec 2012 15:16:28 +0000145851 at http://www.adweek.comBanks Eat Into Groupon's Businesshttp://www.adweek.com/news/technology/banks-eat-groupons-business-142724
Christopher Heine<p>
One day after Groupon&#39;s <a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/breaking/chi-groupon-shares-tank-on-disappointing-results-20120814,0,2201328.story" target="_blank">disappointing Q2</a> earnings report, the daily deals row isn&#39;t getting any easier to hoe. For the <a href="http://www.adweek.com/news/technology/ally-bank-borrows-amexs-digital-playbook-142633" target="_blank">second consecutive week</a>, a major banking institution has rolled out a deals platform nationwide that&rsquo;s designed to be easier to use than Groupon. Bank of America <a href="http://newsroom.bankofamerica.com/press-release/consumer-banking/bank-america-launches-online-and-mobile-cash-back-deals-nationwide" target="_blank">today announced</a> BankAmeriDeals, offering discounts from partners Aeropostale, The Body Shop, FedEx Office, AutoZone, Redbox and the Atlanta Braves.</p>
<p>
From the consumer&rsquo;s standpoint, BoA&#39;s offering appears to be simple. BoA account holders can go online and opt into discounts from the retailers. When those users visit the merchant properties and use their debit/credit cards, they&rsquo;ll automatically receive a discount&mdash;between 5 percent and 15 percent&mdash;in the form of cash back on their next monthly statement.</p>
<p>
To enable the program, BoA has partnered with technology firm <a href="http://www.cardlytics.com/" target="_blank">Cardlytics</a>, which also works with banks PNC and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regions_Financial_Corporation" target="_blank">Regions</a> to offer similar merchants-based rewards. And other financial institutions, such as <a href="http://www.ally.com/bank/interest-checking-account/perks/" target="_blank">Ally Bank</a> and <a href="http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/amex-adds-personalized-offers-iphone-app-140516" target="_blank">American Express</a>, have been launching programs similar to BoA&#39;s.</p>
<p>
Rod Witmond, svp of marketing for Atlanta-based Cardlytics, addressed BoA&#39;s program. &quot;They are able to bring the [deals] program to the consumers for offline and online stores they are already using frequently,&quot; he said. &quot;And they are able to bring it through a card they are already using frequently.&quot;</p>
<p>
Indeed, while Groupon and LivingSocial&mdash;the <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2012/01/27/livingsocial-5000-employees/" target="_blank">No. 2 player</a> in the space&mdash;have given consumers paperless options <a href="http://www.clickz.com/clickz/news/2071156/geo-deals-battle-royale-groupon-vs-facebook-vs-scvngr" target="_blank">via their mobile apps</a>, buying the deal sellers&rsquo; vouchers still requires a step or two more than simply pulling out a card and swiping it.&nbsp;</p>
<p>
None of these moves seem to help Groupon, in particular. The Chicago-based company reported Monday that Q2 billings dropped 5 percent from Q1, sending its stock plummeting by more than 20 percent during this morning&#39;s public trading.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Meanwhile, LivingSocial seems hell-bent on establishing secondary revenue channels to augment its deals sales. It launched a <a href="http://www.clickz.com/clickz/news/2162763/livingsocial-918-street-events-selling" target="_blank">retail space</a> in its hometown of Washington, D.C., in February and debuted a <a href="http://thenextweb.com/insider/2012/07/17/livingsocial-launches-first-foray-into-physical-products-an-online-shop-selling-curated-collections/" target="_blank">Shop</a> channel that&rsquo;s essentially a new e-commerce arm.</p>
<p>
All told, the developments make the flash sales space look like a pretty tough deal.</p>
TechnologyAlly BankAmerican ExpressBank Of AmericaCommercedaily dealsChristopher HeineGrouponlivingsocialWells FargoTue, 14 Aug 2012 17:49:24 +0000142724 at http://www.adweek.com